July 07, 2008

Fashionable Entrepreneur

It’s not everyday that I get to peek inside the closet of a fashionable millionaire, but recently I did just that while visiting entrepreneur, Gurbaksh Chahal - better known as G - at his SoMa penthouse. We were talking fashion, more specifically his fashion, and one thing led to another and I asked, “How big is your closet?” and he said, “Do you want to see it?”

G has lived a classic rags to riches story. He emigrated from India with his family at age four, watched his parents struggle to make ends meet and dropped out of high school to start an online ad network, which he sold for 40 million dollars at age 18. Now at 26, G has sold his second business, BlueLithium Inc., another online advertising agency to Yahoo!, and is the toast of San Francisco with a his memoir and a reality show both due out later this year. Beyond all that, the guy knows how to dress.

G says he wasn’t always fashion conscious. “We didn’t have a lot when I was growing up,” he said. “We shopped at Goodwill.” Focused on his work, G didn’t think much about style or clothing until after he sold his first business. “I realized I had become more visible and I needed to look better.” So G went to Men’s Wearhouse for his first suit, because, he thought, where else does one go for a suit?

G has learned a lot since then. Sporting casual jeans and a black v-neck sweater on the day we met, he says he’s a very selective shopper and favors European suits, “They’re more fitted. American suits are boxy.” Brands don’t necessarily matter; he likes what he likes and what looks good on him. However, when it comes to suits he buys French designer Thierry Mugler and his favorite brand of jeans is Rock and Republic. Locally he shops at Barneys, Bloomingdales, and Gucci. He also shops when he travels to Las Vegas and Europe. He goes through fashion phases. It was suits and ties for a while. Now he’s more casual with jeans, noting “I think I own more pairs of jeans than I should.”

As for his closet, it’s an impressive large walk-in, well organized, and not overstuffed. Quality over quantity seems to be G’s motto. That fits with his casual sense of fashion and belief that style is really about confidence and how one carries oneself.

When asked if he had a signature piece of clothing, G said with a grin, “A Gucci belt buckle, because they stole my initial.”